Great job digga! Let me add Cushnoc Brewing in Augusta ME: Very good beer AND pizza!
On a related note, Absolem Cider in Winthrop ME (near Augusta) is absolutely worth a visit. Very good food from a rotating group of food trucks; meats and cheeses to make your own charcuterie plates; really good and unusual ciders mostly made with local heirloom apples and local fruits as well; a well-curated list of draft beers and wines; and finally the most interesting wall of liqueurs/liquors/spirits I have ever seen, from which they will make you some superb cocktails. Check it out! www.absolemcider.com
Uploading some photos. I’ve obviously got “too much time on my hands” (between work projects at the moment so I will strike while the iron is hot). See what you’ve started @tomatotomato?!
And how did I forget Monhegan Brewing, Monhegan Island ME in my original list, a place the 3 of us adore?! The outdoor Trap Room is brilliant, with “walls” constructed of retired lobster traps.
We spent an afternoon at Democracy Brewing in Downtown Boston after a theatre production last weekend. Sadly, the cherry sour I tried was kind of blah. Watery and bland. The bar snacks, especially the buffalo cauliflower, were outstanding, however. And the foosball table kept all our sprouts fully occupied and out of the grownups’ way so we could ruminate over Moby Dick to our hearts’ content.
Rats…I didn’t know about this production. It would’ve been right up Spring Onion’s alley. Just yesterday, we were driving home from school and he said to me, “did you know that Starbucks is a character from Moby Dick” as we were passing by Starbucks. (He’s only read a gorgeous pop-up book when he was a really little kid…he’s not that advanced lol.) I wonder if one of his classmates saw the production and mentioned it to him?
Didn’t know about Democracy, either. Whenever we’re in the big city, particularly in that part of town, we’re often at a loss of where to go that doesn’t simply cater to the after-work bro crowd (I used to work across from the Granary Burying Ground).
Rek-Lis Brewing Bethlehem NH
Had to add my 1—I think—NH data point. Really pleased to have stopped here. The vibe was great, my food was just ok but B and SO loved their food. Decent beers, too, including the fun-named Pretentious Hopper, which beer geeks will appreciate. We took some home. I think B liked it!
It was wonderful. Looks like you can watch some of the puppets at least here
I went with a group of alums from the maritime studies program I did in college and the current Literature of the Sea professor came up from Mystic for discussion over beers. To keep it brew focused, others thought their beers at Democracy Brewing were excellent so perhaps a sour just wasn’t the best choice here.
Thank you @digga, for your excellent photos and reports! I l believe your day trips with your family are what inspired me in the first place. We sure have a lot of taprooms to talk about these days.
This week my husband and I went to the Worcester Art Museum, which called for a stop at Armsby Abbey afterward. We hadn’t been there in years, so we were pleased to see that their beer selection and gastropub game remain strong as ever.
Armsby Abbey’s selection of beers from their friends at Hill Farmstead is a draw for us. Six offerings on tap this visit. Happiness.
Armsby Abbey’s selection of Hill Farmstead beers has always been a big draw for me, although with the recent availability of HF beers in greater Boston, somewhat less so, especially due to the drive home from Worcester.
We did go to a Woosox game last summer, spent the night in Wooster, and of course ate/drank at AA which was great!.
Oh man, same here! We first went shortly after they opened for business and fell in love with the cheese plates and Belgian beers. They always seemed to have exactly what we wanted to eat and drink—I can’t think of a similar place in GBA. I’m pleased as punch that it’s still going strong.
ETA: Publick House in Brookline used to fill that niche for us, but our last visit (late 2022, I think?) just didn’t feel the same.
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned the two Notch Brewing tap rooms/beer gardens (Brighton and Salem).
They get my nomination for the best beer/taproom experience in the greater Boston area. Their beers are uniformly superb and unlike most breweries, they make classic European brews that don’t absolutely knock your over your head with hops and alcohol. (I love Treehouse beers but I will not drive home after more than one of their 8+% DIPAs.)
I think that Widowmaker is also worth a mention. Their Blue Comet IPA is one of my favorite Boston-area interpretations of the style.
I visited their Braintree location a year ago and it was pretty standard for a NE brewery taproom. They have recently opened a second location in Brighton with a kitchen. I look forward to trying it later this year.
^ Yes to this. One of the things I admire about Notch.
Plus the vibe of the taproom in Salem—haven’t visited Brighton—has been chill and convivial when we visited. That’s another important aspect I look for.
Last week we visited Armsby Abbey again after a trip to see the orchid show at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens. (Note: Charming, yet not as big an orchid exhibit as my mind’s eye had imagined.)
I wanted to share this look at Armsby’s draft beer menu from this second visit. Quite a different lineup was different than at the beginning of the month. I very much enjoyed a Novachord from Brick and Feather Brewery of Turners Falls, MA. This was a Czech-style Polotmavy (amber) lager at 4 percent alcohol.
